


so halte ich mich schadlos

by brandywine421



Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Friendship, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26107198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: Coming back from the dead wasn't as simple as the movies and TV he remembered - but his memory had been wrong about a lot of things.  So many things.Sure, 10 years lost in a remote and mostly uncharted area in the Himalayas would probably tweak his memories a bit and he had watched his parents die, over and over in his dreams - but he thought that he had friends and people that might possibly care that he was alive instead of being stuck on the 'declared dead' part.It had taken months at the Embassy in Nepal to prove his identity, down to DNA tests and tons of invasive questions and exams but the whole time he'd reassured the monks that had cared for him from 11 years old to now that it would be 'so worth it' when he got back to America.
Relationships: Matt Murdock/Danny Rand
Comments: 13
Kudos: 40
Collections: Daredevil and Defenders Exchange 2020





	so halte ich mich schadlos

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rrrNightingale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rrrNightingale/gifts).



> I got hooked on the 'hotel' prompt and tried to sprinkle in some pieces of the other parts of your request - such a fun sandbox! 
> 
> Thanks to **bearthurpendragon** for the last minute spot-check! <3

_so I hold myself harmless_  
_I’m not allowed to love_  
_Then I don’t need to suffer (no)_  
_And no hearts get broken_

  
_"Is that him?"_

_"Shh, you fail at whispering - "_

Danny Rand, heir to the Rand Hotel chain, (now the known as the Rand-Meacham Hotel Empire), ignored the latest tittering from the suits that passed by the VIP waiting room while he waited for his 'appointment'. It was nicer than most of the other waiting rooms he'd been unlucky enough to visit but he definitely didn't feel like a VIP.

Coming back from the dead wasn't as simple as the movies and TV he remembered - but his memory had been wrong about a lot of things. So many things.

Sure, 10 years lost in a remote and mostly uncharted area in the Himalayas would probably tweak his memories a bit and he had watched his parents die, over and over in his dreams - but he thought that he had friends and people that might possibly care that he was alive instead of being stuck on the 'declared dead' part.

It had taken months at the Embassy in Nepal to prove his identity, down to DNA tests and tons of invasive questions and exams but the whole time he'd reassured the monks that had cared for him from 11 years old to now that it would be 'so worth it' when he got back to America.

So why did he miss his pallet of thin blankets on the floor in the dormitory? Why was English the language he wished he couldn't understand?

"Excuse me, we're going to step in and use the good coffee machine, just pretend we aren't here," one of the whisperers said, nodding to him as he stepped into the waiting room. Dark hair and an easy grace and filled out the suit in all the best ways - but the shades threw him off.

Maybe wearing shades inside was okay for fancy lawyers, he'd have to Google it later.

The other suit elbowed him aside and bustled over to the machine with a flustered apology and Danny spotted the thin cane - no, blind man's stick - in the sexy guy's hand. Oh.

"The machine in the intern's staff room is always broken and this one has the hot water function so I can have tea - Foggy - " Hot guy said. 

"I'm making your damn tea, stop talking to the rich people," the blond lawyer warned under his breath before directing another apologetic look for Danny.

"No, it's fine, I've been waiting for a while, you're not bothering me." God, he sounded desperate - why couldn't he have the same kind of confidence as the blind man?

"Hot tip, your lawyer didn't look at your paperwork until this morning - she never reads our memos," Hot Guy said.

He sighed. He'd almost given up hope that J-Money remembered him fondly when she ignored his calls - up until his identity was validated anyway; but she'd taken his case as soon as the DNA results came back so he'd thought - he thought it would be a chance to catch up with a friend instead of a new cash cow.

"Sorry, he didn't mean to upset you. I'm Foggy, the tactless blind guy is Matt - please don't tell our boss that we're talking out of turn," the other guy said, with a pleading look to Danny.

Matt swung his cane against the cushioned seats until he made contact with the rubber of Danny's sneaker. "We've been working your case since you turned up alive, wondered how you were settling in but - well, we're too low-tier to get a meeting."

"I feel pretty low-tier after waiting this long to see an old friend. But I guess she's just my lawyer now, I don't think my old friends still count as old friends when I can't even find their numbers," Danny admitted. "You worked my case?"

"Oh yeah, been flashing those DNA results all over the world to shut up those greedy bastards - " Foggy started, wincing and snapping his mouth closed. He passed Matt a cup of steaming water.

"Now who's talking out of turn," Matt said, his lips (wow, those are lips) turning up in a half smile. "Ignore us, corporate law isn't quite what we signed up for but - interns, so we have time." He pulled a Ziploc bag with several tea bags from his inner jacket. He smoothed his fingers over the dotted sticker on the outside and smiled faintly.

Foggy grinned. "Do you want some coffee, or some of Matt's fancy tea?"

"Do we have honey?" Matt interrupted.

Danny knew he'd been isolated for a long time, but he wanted to hang out with these guys. "I would love some tea if you've got honey," he said.

Foggy winked at him and opened his battered briefcase. There were a few files, a laptop and two brown bags cheerily labelled 'Matthew' and 'Franklin'. He placed a bear-shaped bottle of honey on the table. "Yes, my mom still makes my lunch and no, I'm not embarrassed about it because she makes great lunch."

"They run a deli, never turn down a Nelson lunch," Matt said, passing him the cup of water as he opened the satchel and held out a tea bag. "His mom also sends me tea."

Foggy shrugged.. "She always wanted another son, especially one that indulges her fancy tea problem."

That was totally sweet and he had the sudden urge to burst into tears like a spoiled eleven year old lost in the Himalayas.

"His mom spoils me but - I can't turn down her sandwiches and I have my own tea - fancy as hell - at my own place," Matt said, recapturing his attention. Danny needed to meet more people if he was smitten this easily.

"Rent is outrageous and unlike you, I have a very hot boyfriend that I stay with so I don't actually live with my parents full time - not that there's anything wrong with that," Foggy said.

Danny dropped the tea bag into the cup while Foggy brought over a fresh cup for Matt and coffee for himself. 

"You want to come back to our alleged office and relax? You can get a head start on all the paperwork Jeri's going to have for you," Foggy offered.

"Yuck, paperwork," he muttered but the invitation was nice.

"At least we won't give you lip if you ask questions," Matt said. "And we have snacks."

Well, if they had snacks.  
  


* * *

  
He hadn't laughed this much in - hell, years, probably, but he knew more about his trust and his rights as stockholder than he probably would learn from Jeri. He hoped she wasn't as scary as Foggy seemed to think, she had never seemed scary to him as a kid - but nothing had. Nothing had been scary until the plane went down and he was alone.

They were only a few years older than him and funny and kind, nothing like the other fake welcomes from strangers - they were nice.

He was pretty sure he made Matt smile a few times which gave him a lot of warm feelings that he would be processing later.

"Man, I gotta ask - and it's not because I'm trying to avoid thinking about the traumatic horribleness that you went through losing your parents and almost dying in the snow - but - did you see any Yetis?"

Matt let out a groan. "Really, Fogs?"

Danny laughed, happy that they were comfortable enough to tease him. He liked being treated like a regular guy and not a 'lost millionaire to be schmoozed' or a 'uncultured American to be teased' - he could just be Danny Rand.

"No, but I did kill a dragon - big yellow one," Danny confided.

"No way," Foggy said, impressed.

"Biggest lizard the monks ever saw, way out of its natural habitat but climate change, you know?"

Matt opened his mouth but a new voice cut in. "Please don't get Murdock started on climate change or we'll all start bleeding from the ears. Danny - it's so good to see you - I'm so sorry I'm late."

J-Money looked good, a little thin but strict and demurely dressed to fit her Partner title. He hugged her tightly and she returned it after a beat. "Hey. Matt and Foggy rescued me from the waiting room, they were very helpful."

"I'm glad, they helped get you home and were incessantly annoying about it, come along, my office has more room and the Meachams are due any minute," Jeri said with a dismissive nod to Foggy and Matt.

"Good luck," Matt murmured under his breath as Foggy raised his hand to his ear to mimic a phone.

They'd answered his questions but had been oddly careful about telling him anything about Joy and Ward. Considering how open they'd been about trashing their bosses and the sins of corporate law, he should have anticipated that his old friends might not be his friends anymore.

Only one way to find out if his luck was finally turning.  
  


* * *

  
God, was everything about money? It was like Joy only saw dollar signs and Q ratings when she looked at him - and Ward barely acknowledged him at all apart from bank stares as if he was some kind of hallucination - or a bad dream.

He wanted to tear off his shirt and scream at the mountain - but this was his only clean shirt and there were no mountains, only buildings. 

All the upbeat feelings he'd found hanging out with the 'fetal lawyers' as Jeri called them, had dissipated when all the partners came to the meeting to suck up to the Meachams and size up how much the undead Rand was worth.

He almost ran over Matt standing by the sidewalk with his phone pressed to his ear. "Matt?" The man turned and lowered his phone. "It's Danny, hey."

"Oh, hi, Danny, are you still here?" Matt asked, visibly relaxing once he'd identified himself but frowning after a beat. "Wait, are you all right?"

"Maybe I should have stayed in Nepal another decade, or two," he blurted out.

Matt's frown deepened. "Ouch, that bad?"

"So bad," Danny muttered. 

Matt reached over and squeezed his forearm, fingers cool against his warm skin. He took it as comfort and needed some comfort today, "I'm glad you're here, Danny. I'm on my way home, if you can find us a cab - I'll buy you dinner."

"Really?" He didn't mean to sound so eager but - 

"Really, it would help me out and I want to know what Jeri did to upset you and what the hell took this long after she made you wait for hours in the first place - she's treating you like a hostile witness - "

"It wasn't Jeri's fault, she was fine - it's - "

Matt narrowed his mouth in a line. "Did they say something to you?"

He had the sudden urge to go in for a hug but raised his hand to hail one of the taxis instead. "Maybe I can tell you over dinner - I don't really want to talk about it right now, I might start crying and make a scene," he admitted honestly.

* * *

"This is your place?" Danny asked, taking in the apartment dimly lit by the flashy billboard outside. He kind of wanted to climb it and check the neighborhood from a better view.

"Name's on the lease and everything," Matt smiled, skimming his hand across the wall until he found the light switch and illuminated the open space and painfully neat. 

"Mrs. Nelson says I'm too high maintenance to ever find a wife, but I've never been looking for a wife," Matt said.

Oh, what did that mean?

"You seem close with them, the Nelsons?"

"Yeah, I lost my dad a couple of years after I went blind, grew up in the orphanage a few blocks over," Matt said. "Got roomed with Foggy in college and the Nelsons have been trying to adopt me ever since. It drives them nuts that I live here on my own and won't let them put me in a hamster bubble."

"Oh, so you weren't always blind?"

"I was nine, and yes, it sucked. But losing my dad sucked more," Matt said. "You want a beer? I'll let you handle the menus if you don't mess up the order of the pamphlets - Frank always messes up the order."

_Frank?_

"Speaking of," Matt continued, taking out his phone. "Call Frank."

Okay, so the day could get bad again. "Who - "

"Foggy's boyfriend," Matt said over the ring of the speakerphone before it connected. "Frank, did Foggy finish his errands before he got home?"

_"Why are you asking me, just call him - "_

"He didn't answer earlier and his phone battery was at 10% at lunch, probably went dead on the subway," Matt replied.

_"Right - hang on - here."_

Foggy's voice took over. _"What's up, Matt, do you miss me already?"_

"Danny's with me, we're going to have dinner and I'm going to find out what the Meachams said to wreck his zen. Did you - "

_"Oh, yeah - Got him a phone, checkbook and ATM card, credit to be discussed - "_

"Hi, Foggy," Danny smiled, relaxing now that 'Frank' had been decoded. Good day again.

_"Hey, Danny! Can we come over? I'll bring your stuff and can pick up dinner, save Matt a tip - he always overtips."_

"They deserve it for bringing my food safely," Matt frowned. Danny liked his petulant frowns almost as much as his smiles. Oh wow, he was really going to have to devote some time to figuring these new feelings out.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Title (and lyric tag) belong to Rammstein _(roughly translated 'so I keep myself harmless')_


End file.
